Notre Dame rallies to beat A&M
SPOKANE, Wash. — Muffet McGraw checked through the list of all the things Notre Dame did poorly early on. Bad shot selection. Lack of rebounding. Not enough stops on defense.
“We got down big. We’ve been down in other games. We feel like we are poised and can come back,” McGraw said.
As McGraw expected, the top-seeded Fighting Irish did have a comeback waiting and it landed Notre Dame back on the cusp of another trip to the Final Four.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half and Marina Mabrey added 25, hitting a career-high seven three-pointers, to help Notre Dame beat No. 4 seed Texas A&M 90-84 on Saturday in the Spokane Regional semifinals.
The Irish (32-3) rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit and are back in their familiar spot of playing for a trip to the Final Four. They will face No. 2 seed Oregon in the regional final on Monday.
It took a fantastic shooting performance from Mabrey and some key contributions late from Ogunbowale and Jackie Young for Notre Dame to hold off Chennedy Carter and the Aggies. Young had three key baskets in the final five minutes and finished with 15 points. Mabrey was 7 of 11 on three-pointers and the Irish made 10 of 18 shots from behind the arc. She had all of her points in the first three quarters.
“I practiced for it,” Mabrey said with a grin. “I don’t know. I think when the shots are open, they’re a little bit easier to make. My teammates are finding me in great positions.”
Carter, the dynamic freshman for the Aggies, finished with 31 points and seven assists. Anriel Howard added a career-high 26 points and 14 rebounds, but the Aggies (26- 10) have advanced to the Elite Eight just once since winning the title in 2011.
Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair said he wouldn’t be second-guessing any decisions after this tournament loss. The Aggies were simply outclassed.
“I wouldn’t change a thing. We played exceptionally well,” Blair said. “Even though we were up 12 or 13 or whatever it was, we knew Notre Dame would come back. They were hitting shots. They were doing what they needed to. That’s why they’re the No. 1 team.”
The first tournament meeting between the Aggies and Irish since the 2011 national championship game was an offensive showcase with both teams trading scoring spurts before the Irish finally took control with an 11-3 burst midway through the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame led 79-70 with 5 minutes left following Young’s basket, but had to hold on after Kennedy and Anriel Howard hit a trio of three-pointers. Texas A&M was within 85-82 with 1:40 left, but Notre Dame’s Kathryn Westbeld hit a 15-footer with 1:15 remaining to push the lead back to five. Westbeld has been limited by an ankle injury suffered in the tournament opener.
OREGON 83, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 69
SPOKANE, Wash. — Ruthy Hebard had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Sabrina Ionescu just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and second-seeded Oregon beat No. 11 seed Central Michigan.
Lexi Bando added 14 points for Oregon (33-4), which earned a second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight with its 12th victory in a row.
The Ducks will play top-seeded Notre Dame in the regional final on Monday.
Tinara Moore had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Central Michigan (30-5), which won its first two NCAA Tournament games in program history this year.
Presley Hudson added 15 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
The Chippewas were doomed by poor shooting, making just 36 percent of their shots to 49 percent for Oregon.